Hey! I have an 84 Camaro z28 that has a swapped engine in it. Originally I thought this was a late 70's 350 from a pickup. However today I've been doing some research and after several hours I have concluded it is a 1968 327 from a 68 Camaro. I was hopping someone could confirm this for me as I am unsure and this would be my first engine identification. The partial VIN is 18L304000 and the block number is V0914ME. I cant seem to find the engine date number.

Thanks.

 

Get the casting number. That tells all that really matters.

This number is conveniently located right out in the open, in the most accessible place on the entire block: on top of the bell housing flange behind the driver's side head.

/sarcasm off



Nothing is really any different about a 327 from a 350, except that it makes 23 CID less power; and if in fact it's a 68 one, it's a small journal block, which means the rods and crank won't interchange into a 69-up motor and you can't install the missing CID because the later-model crank won't fit in that block. Externally there is basically no difference.

But even if that's what THE BLOCK is, the chances of it still being a "68 Camaro 327" are so remote as to be quantum mechanical. It will virtually FOR CERTAIN have been rebuilt, in which case EVERY PIECE that would have differentiated a "68 Camaro 327" from any other 327 built out of that same block, however few that those differences might have been, has been touched and probably changed, and therefore those differences all have been erased. The 68 heads won't fit your car to start with, so you CERTAINLY have different heads on it, if your alternator and PS are still there; the cam, pistons, and so on, would have been replaced during any rebuild; and since THE BLOCK pretty much forgets within microseconds what sheet metal it was wrapped in the instant it's pulled out, it just really doesn't matter any more.

Hopefully it turns out to be something decent instead of that. But if that's what it is, all hope is not lost, you just have to face that dollar for dollar, it doesn't have as much potential as a larger motor.

 

Well the main thing I'm trying to figure out is what engine to buy parts for. Basically what you're saying is that it is likely a rebuilt 327? As far as the heads not fitting the car, why is that? I would love to get that casting number. Still working on that one.

 

What parts are you trying to buy? Most, it doesn't make the slightest difference what car the block came out of. Or what year. Or waht size the motor even is.

What I"m saying is, those stamping codes aren't reliable, if the motor has been rebuilt; and since the odds of someone taking a 45-yr-old motor out of a car and installing it complete and untouched into one that's over 25 yearrs newer, are SO TINY as to be negligible, that there's NO ACTIONABLE INFORMATION in them.

The reason the 68 heads wouldn't fit your car is because 68 Camaro heads wouldn't have had the bolt holes in their ends for the alternator, PS pump, etc.

 

Hmm, ok. The current part I'm trying to buy is the timing cover gasket set. The part numbers were different on a 327 vs a 350, though I suppose that doesn't mean the gaskets are different. So I'll pull the valve cover and figure out what heads I have then dig around for that casting number.

 

Suffix code ME
1967/68 327. 210hp, 2 bbl and had a powerglide behind it.

The partial VIN number indicates that it's from 1968 but there's no way to determine what model car it came from.

 

Ok, the casting number is 3914678, which would indicate the same thing. 14CM was just above the casting number, but it doesn't seem to be a date code. I have it apart to replace the timing cover seals so all my stuff is in the way, but when I put it back together I'll pull the valve cover and see what heads I have. I don't really care about the model it came out of, its just nice to know as much as you can about the thing.

Thanks,
Isaac